Buns of Steel

I told Raven that this is what my next post would be called so there it is. That is what I am aspiring to have- buns of steel. Today though there is little buns of steel happening as I have the whole day off of training which feels kind of weird. I woke up at the crack of dawn and decided today was the day I was going to be a tourist and take photos of my current neighbourhood - Congress and South 1st street and find an appropriate Father's Day card. I took out the commuter bike which one can only go slow on, wore a dress and swung my handbag over my shoulder. I succeeded in the first mission but failed miserably on the second. Hopefully my father will forgive me for yet another very late card celebrating his day...

Lately I have started to get a little anxious and have started to really bug Zane about when I might start racing. I think this is due to the fact that I have been feeling good lately.

It is hard to continually put the reigns on when you just want to fly! To be honest, I still have a ways to go in terms of my run fitness but I

am not sure how much longer I can handle being on the sidelines. I will listen to Zane of course but it is hard not to start to planning, getting excited about what may come yet this season. To think that it was not that long ago that I was told that I likely would not race at all this season and would be out until the spring at least. Amazing how quickly things can change.

Next week I go to Ottawa and see everyone there which will be really wonderful and help me get over the general desire to just go somewhere, do something. I am most looking forward to seeing John and the gang at the pool, riding in the Gats and taking a dip in Meech lake. I can't imagine a better way to spend a few days. There will be lots of appointments in there to doctors, seeing friends and yes, I am even headed to the spa thanks to a nice Christmas present! All good. And then I get in the car for what I think will be an eternity! Four days on the road driving back to Austin... ugg. If anyone has any recommendations for how to break up unbelievable boredom let me know! Podcasts, books on tape and music. I will be doing it all...

Just imagine when I arrive back in Austin though - I really will have a whole lot of pent up energy to be released! Watch out....it will be scary :)

Labral Tear Update

On the training front with labral tears things are going surprisingly well. Last weekend I wrote how it was hard to go through the ups and downs of whether it hurts or not. This week there was not so much of that. I pretty much just trained normally and consistently without any drama which felt pretty darn good. Raven (physiotherapist) has me really working my hamstrings and gluts to balance out my over dominant quads. She wants to see them “pop” and so onto the physioball I go doing reps with weights. I also continue to do core work which is planks, planks, mixed in with more planks. The other thing that I am working on is proper form when walking and sitting. I notice that if I walk or sit too much with my right foot not aligned straight, my hip will let me know. This means when driving my foot is not turned out, when walking I am holding good posture and still leaning. I suppose that I really am re-learning whole body alignment and this seems to be what is making a difference. Each run feels like I am a little closer to getting some fitness. Each day I am a little more positive and think that maybe Dr. Gilbart just might be onto something with this whole managing thing… still hoping and taking one day at a time!

My First Ever Bike Race

On the start line there were only six other girls. One of them requests to do only 1 lap of the course thereby reducing the race to 26 miles. The official states that if everyone is in agreement to do one lap then she is ok with it. Much to everyone else’s chagrin, there was no way that I was doing a 26 mile race when I showed up for 52 miles. Come on people! They were sadly disappointed.

So we begin and stayed together for the first 8 miles when the first King of the Mountain (KOM) prime came up. I was in the lead and took the first surge up the hill and maintained my position – score. The pack broke up here and there ended up being four girls, including myself, riding together. Two of these girls made a decision to not work AT ALL. This left all the pulling to me and another girl, Deena, who was quite strong (also from Canada!). Not wanting to be played like a total sucker I strived desperately to have patience. We tried to pull away with a few surges but they responded. When we did try to have them take a pull, they slowed to almost a stop and I am not exaggerating. After awhile I asked what was up. The response was that because it was I who wanted to do two laps they were not going to work the first lap. And that was that. It was painful. I was not happy or having fun…this was not racing.

So the second lap came and I tried to not be suckered into continuing to do all the work by moving constantly from one side of the road to the other. I chilled out and just told this chick to let me know when she was ready to enter this race. The time came on the second KOM prime. I was ahead again going into the hill when she attacked and dove in front of me literally causing me to brake on the hill. There was no way she was going to take it so I punched it and dropped her. Thankfully Deena was not too far behind at the crest and told me to keep going and get away. We did and left them in our dust. Seriously. It felt great. Deena started cramping so I ended up doing the majority of the work on that second lap but I was ok with this because I was glad to be actually riding and she made an effort at least. Last 500 meters was nearing and once again I sensed that despite the fact that I pulled 75% of the second lap, she was still going to go for it. It was a race after all! There was no way though that I was going to let her take it.

It came down to a sprint finish. I had led the whole 500m and new that I had to be in my drops and out of the saddle for the very last surge (thanks Rob!). It worked by a hair. I won. I just (and I mean just) edged her out. I rode straight to the water coolers and drank and drank and drank. It was freaking hot!

In the end, it was fun thanks to my fellow Canadian who was there to race. Maybe those other girls were ready to race but just have a different idea of what this means. Maybe it is me who needs to learn what bike racing is and patience was the first lesson. I kept thinking of Cynthia knowing that she never would have gone for that bull** and would have shared a few choice words. I would have loved to have had her there.

To top the day off Zane had me do my longest run yet… a whole hour!!! It was awesome, had no pain and felt not too bad considering the volume of water lost over the course of the day. Thankfully that night it was a B-B-Q at Allison’s and Gabes. Bless them. Good food and company. Life is good.